? ABOUT BUSHINGS

[madfronter]

I am going to replace my control arm bushings along with the ball joints on my car and have a couple questions regarding bushings.

I have Bilstein Sport shocks with Bavarian Autosports lowering springs.

Should I upgrade to a different bushing for my set up?

Or should I buy the OE bushing?

[CirrusSR22]

I would look into the 96+ E36 M3 control arm bushings. Much more solid than the stock ones, but still fairly inexpensive.

[marleymon]

e30 m3-solid /offset
solid ball joints are a good idea, better yet, replace the arms altogether.
josh

[1996 328ti]

To confuse things more, I went with 95 M3 offset bushings and control arm.

[96 3 1 8 ti]

I like the eyeball arm bushings

[madfronter]

Thanks for replies!

Do any of you have the same shock and spring set up as I do?

[madfronter]

Originally Posted by 1996 328ti

To confuse things more, I went with 95 M3 offset bushings and control arm.

What is the difference between the E36 M3 control arms and the E36 ti control arms?

Do the M3 arms fit without modification?

What type of difference did the offset bushings make?

Are the M3 balljoints solid like the Meyle ball joints?

[cali-ti]

i have bilstein sports and bav auto springs. i went with meyle solid metal ball joints (although if i was doing it myself, i'd just use the meyle control arms with the ball joints already mounted) and e30 m3 offset LCABs. it's very nice ... crisp and tight.

EDIT: i wanted to try treehouse racing eyeball arms instead of the stock lollipops and LCABs, but i haven't yet.

[madfronter]

What do the offset bushings do?

What are the benefits to having offset bushings?

Is it better for a lowered set up?

[cali-ti]

slightly more caster (pushes the wheels forward a bit). the m3 bushings are also solid, unlike the stock ones.

[madfronter]

So it increases the wheel base a little bit?

[madfronter]

What do the offset bushings feel like?

I think I might buy the E30 M3 offset bushings but would like some more information before I buy them. Otherwise I might by the E36 M3 bushings but they arent completely solid. I was not able to find the E36 M3 offset bushings.

The E30 offset bushing are sold individually for $ 54.95 ea. and the set of two E36 M3 bushings is $ 59.95 ea. from bavauto.com.

[cali-ti]

i think the only e36 m3 offset bushings are from the 95 m3.

what do you mean by "what do they feel like"? i'm guessing the differences between the offset and centered solid bushings will be subtle. the advantage of the solid bushings is less deflection under load, but possibly a little more harshness in the ride (can't say i really noticed any - but i sure noticed the change in feel/handling with the combination of solid bushings and solid metal ball joints).

[madfronter]

Originally Posted by cali-ti

i think the only e36 m3 offset bushings are from the 95 m3.

what do you mean by "what do they feel like"? i'm guessing the differences between the offset and centered solid bushings will be subtle. the advantage of the solid bushings is less deflection under load, but possibly a little more harshness in the ride (can't say i really noticed any - but i sure noticed the change in feel/handling with the combination of solid bushings and solid metal ball joints).

I just looked up the 95 M3 offset solid bushings and they are 89.95 for a set of two. I think I might go for them.

I already replaced my left front control arm with the Meyle set up but the right side has the OE plastic core ball joint that failed on me so its time to replace that side with the meyle and my bushing are bad on both sides so I think I'm gonna go with the 95 offset bushings. Do you think I will be happy with this set up? Im gonna put a front camber kit on down the road as well to help even out the tire tread wear.

[cali-ti]

i don't know for sure what makes you happy, but i certainly like that setup

any idea what your alignment readings are? you might be able to get away with the camber correction bolts that are listed in the "correcting camber" KB article. those are really cheap.